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Casino Royale (2006 film)
Casino Royale is the twenty-first film in the Eon Productions James Bond film series and the first to star Daniel Craig as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Martin Campbell and written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Paul Haggis, the film marks the third screen adaptation of Ian Fleming's 1953 novel of the same name. Casino Royale is set at the beginning of Bond's career as Agent 007, just as he is earning his licence to kill. After preventing a terrorist attack at Miami International Airport, Bond falls in love with Vesper Lynd, the treasury employee assigned to provide the money he needs to bankrupt a terrorist financier, Le Chiffre, by beating him in a high-stakes poker game. The story arc continues in the following Bond film, Quantum of Solace (2008), with implicit and explicit references to characters and events in Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015). Casino Royale reboots the series, establishing a new timeline and narrative framework not meant to precede or succeed any previous Bond film, which allows the film to show a less experienced and more vulnerable Bond. Additionally, the character Miss Moneypenny is, for the first time in the series, completely absent. Casting the film involved a widespread search for a new actor to portray James Bond, and significant controversy surrounded Craig when he was selected to succeed Pierce Brosnan in October 2005. Location filming took place in the Czech Republic, the Bahamas, Italy and the United Kingdom with interior sets built at Pinewood Studios. Although part of the storyline is set in Montenegro, no filming took place there. Casino Royale was produced by Eon Productions for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures, making it the first Eon-produced Bond film to be co-produced by the latter studio. Casino Royale premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square on 14 November 2006. It received largely positive critical response, with reviewers highlighting Craig's performance and the film's departure from the tropes of previous Bond films. It earned over $599 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing James Bond film until the release of Skyfall in 2012. Plot After killing Dryden, a traitorous MI6 section chief—who has been selling classified information—and the chief's contact, James Bond receives his double-0 status and is designated 007. He then travels to Madagascar in pursuit of Mollaka, a globe-trotting bombmaker-for-hire. After a parkour chase to an unnamed African embassy, Bond kills Mollaka against orders and escapes by setting off an explosion which immobilizes the embassy's security forces. Searching through Mollaka's mobile phone, Bond discovers a text message, which he traces to Alex Dimitrios, an associate of the banker and terrorist financier Le Chiffre. Aided by Mr. White, who is a representative of a terrorist organization later revealed to be Quantum, Le Chiffre is introduced to Steven Obanno, a high ranking member of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, and arranges to bank several briefcases full of cash for Obanno. Le Chiffre, however, decides to invest the money into stock in a successful company called SkyFleet and then engineers a terrorist attack to sink its share prices, creating huge profits for himself. Bond travels to the Bahamas—where Dimitrios has a home—and seduces his wife, Solange Dimitrios. After answering a phone call, Solange reveals that her husband is flying to Miami, so Bond leaves to pursue him. In Miami, 007 kills Dimitrios and follows his henchman, Carlos, to Miami International Airport. There, Bond foils Le Chiffre's plan to destroy the prototype Skyfleet airliner by stopping the fuel truck Carlos was planning to crash into the aeroplane and then attaches the remote detonator, which was going to be used to blow up the truck, to the unwitting Carlos killing him instantly. Left with a huge loss and under pressure to recoup his terrorist clients' money, Le Chiffre sets up a high-stakes Texas hold 'em tournament at the Casino Royale in Montenegro. Hoping that a defeat would force Le Chiffre to aid the British government in exchange for protection from his creditors, MI6 enters Bond into the tournament. On the train to Montenegro, Bond meets Vesper Lynd, a British Treasury agent whose role is to protect the government's interests, specifically the $10 million buy-in. In Montenegro, Bond meets a local MI6 contact, René Mathis, who manages to have both the crooked Chief of Police and Le Chiffre's lieutenant arrested, placing more pressure on Le Chiffre. In the tournament, Bond loses his initial stake on a misplayed hand, and Vesper refuses to give him $5 million to continue playing. Frustrated by his failure, Bond resolves to assassinate Le Chiffre. Before he can, a fellow player, Felix Leiter, reveals himself as a CIA agent. Leiter offers to stake Bond in exchange for custody of Le Chiffre. Back in the game, Bond rapidly re-establishes his stack. Le Chiffre attempts to have Bond killed by having his girlfriend Valenka poison Bond's drink. In an attempt to stop the poison, Bond uses a defibrillator in his Aston Martin to combat the poison but he begins to pass out in the process of doing so. He manages to survive, however, with the help of Vesper who attaches the machine to Bond which restarts his heart. After returning from his Aston Martin, Bond wins the tournament, and the winnings are deposited into a Swiss bank account. Soon afterward, Le Chiffre's henchmen abduct Vesper and use her as bait to capture Bond. Le Chiffre tortures Bond for the bank account's password, but he is interrupted by Mr White, who kills Le Chiffre for being untrustworthy. Bond awakens in a hospital on Lake Como and has Mathis, whom Le Chiffre falsely identified as a double agent, arrested. Bond admits to Vesper that he is in love with her, and posts his resignation to M. The couple travel to Venice, where Bond learns that his winnings were never deposited in the Treasury's account. Realising that Vesper had stolen the winnings, he pursues her and the men to whom she gives the money into a building under renovation. In the ensuing firefight, the inflatable supports holding the building above water are punctured. Bond kills the men and tries to rescue Vesper, but she locks herself in an iron-frame lift and allows herself to drown as the building sinks. Mr. White, watching from a nearby balcony, walks away with the money. Bond rejoins MI6 and learns that Vesper had a French-Algerian boyfriend, Yusef Kabira, who was kidnapped by the organisation behind Le Chiffre and Mr. White to blackmail her into co-operation. Bond is also informed that Vesper agreed to deliver the winnings in exchange for Bond's life. Bond then discovers a text from Vesper with White's name and mobile phone number, which he uses to find White at his Italian home. After wounding and capturing White, he introduces himself: "The name's Bond—James Bond." Cast James Bond (Casino Royale).jpg|James Bond (Daniel Craig M (Judi Dench) - Profile.jpg|M (Judi Dench) Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) - Profile.jpg|Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) Le Chiffré.jpg|Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) René Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini) - Profile.jpg|René Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini) Felix in tux.jpeg|Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) Steven Obanno - Isaach De Bankolé.jpg|Steven Obanno (Isaach De Bankolé) Valenka (Ivana Miličević) - Profile.jpg|Valenka (Ivana Miličević) Villiers Profile.png|Villiers (Tobias Menzies) Dimitrios Profile.png|Alex Dimitrios (Simon Abkarian) Carlos.png|Carlos (Claudio Santamaria) Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) - Profile.jpg|Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) Gettler.png|Adolph Gettler (Richard Sammel) Dryden (Malcolm Sinclair) - Profile.jpg|Dryden (Malcolm Sinclair) Fisher (Darwin Shaw) - Profile.jpg|Fisher (Darwin Shaw) Solange Dimitrios (Caterina Murino) - Profile.jpg|Solange (Caterina Murino) Mollaka (Sébastian Foucan) - Profile.jpg|Mollaka (Sébastian Foucan) Kratt Profile.png|Kratt (Clemens Schik) Mendel (Ludger Pistor).jpg|Mendel (Ludger Pistor) Carter (Joseph Millson) - Profile.jpg|Carter (Joseph Millson) * Daniel Craig as James Bond: A British MI6 officer who, after being assigned 00-status, is sent on a mission to arrest a bomb-maker in Madagascar, where he stumbles upon Le Chiffre's terrorist cell and is then sent to defeat him in a high-stakes poker game at Casino Royale. * Eva Green as Vesper Lynd: An agent for HM Treasury assigned to supervise Bond and finance him in a high-stakes poker game. * Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre: A banker who services many of the world's terrorists. He is a mathematical genius and expert chess player and uses these skills when playing poker. * Judi Dench as M: The head of MI6. Although she feels she has promoted Bond too soon and chides him for his rash actions, she acts as an important maternal figure in his life. Dench was the only cast member carried through from the Pierce Brosnan films. * Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter: A CIA operative participating in the poker tournament while assisting Bond. This is the first Eon-produced Bond film in which Leiter is played by a black actor. (The only other black actor to portray Leiter was Bernie Casey in Never Say Never Again, which was not produced by Eon.) * Giancarlo Giannini as René Mathis: Bond's contact in Montenegro. * Simon Abkarian as Alex Dimitrios: Another contractor in the international terrorist underworld and associate of Le Chiffre, based in the Bahamas. * Caterina Murino as Solange Dimitrios: Dimitrios' wife, whom Bond seduces, causing her unintentionally to reveal one of his plans. After Bond kills Dimitrios, she is found tortured and killed. * Ivana Miličević as Valenka: Le Chiffre's girlfriend and henchwoman, who accompanies him to the poker game. * Isaac de Bankolé as Steven Obanno: A leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, introduced to Le Chiffre by Mr. White to account his finances. * Jesper Christensen as Mr. White: A liaison for an unnamed criminal organisation. * Sébastien Foucan as Mollaka: A bomb-maker pursued by Bond through a construction site in Madagascar. * Tsai Chin as Madame Wu: A professional veteran poker player. Chin portrayed Ling, a Bond girl in You Only Live Twice. * Tobias Menzies as Villiers: M's young secretary at MI6 Headquarters. The character's last name is a reference to James Villiers, who portrayed Bill Tanner in For Your Eyes Only, and to the character of Amherst Villiers in the original novel. * Ludger Pistor as Mendel: A Swiss banker responsible for all monetary transactions during and after the poker tournament. * Claudio Santamaria as Carlos: A terrorist employed by Le Chiffre to blow up an aircraft. * Richard Sammel as Gettler: An assassin who works for an unnamed criminal organisation and contacts Vesper in Venice. * Clemens Schick as Kratt: Le Chiffre's bodyguard, who often accompanies his boss wherever he travels. * Joseph Millson as Carter: An MI6 agent who accompanies Bond in Madagascar. * Ben Cooke as Williams: An MI6 agent who debriefs Bond in London. * Malcolm Sinclair as Dryden: A corrupt MI6 Section Chief, and Bond's second official target. * Darwin Shaw as Fisher: Dryden's underground contact. M sends Bond to kill him, his first official target. Bond tracks him down (in Lahore, Pakistan in deleted scenes), nearly drowns him, and then shoots him dead. * Veruschka as Gräfin von Wallenstein: a countess participating in the poker tournament. * Alessandra Ambrosio as Tennis Girl. * Diane Hartford as Card Player. Casino Royale includes a cameo by British entrepreneur Richard Branson (seen being frisked at Miami International Airport). The cameo was cut out of the in-flight versions shown on British Airways' in-flight entertainment systems, as was a shot of the Virgin Atlantic aircraft Branson supplied. External links * Category:Films Category:1995 release Category:James Bond series Category:Daniel Craig films Category:Judi Dench films Category:Action Films